NFS Mini-Series Part 1: 4 Reasons to Start Working with NFSv4 NOW

This talk will appeal to Virtual Data Center Managers, Database Server administrators, and those that are seeking a fundamental understanding of NFSv4.1 with pNFS. It will cover the four key reasons to start working with NFSv4.1 today; explain the storage layouts for parallel NFS; NFSv4.1 Files, Blocks and T10 OSD Objects; and improvements in security. We’ll conclude the session with use cases for grid, database access, enterprise and desktop virtualization.

Get a glimpse of the future of Persistent Memory! Join SNIA NVDIMM Special Interest Group in another in our series of webcasts on the NVDIMM Cookbook - how to incorporate NVDIMM into your systems and what non-volatile DIMM applications now available.

Now that you have become acquainted with basic container technologies and the associated storage challenges in supporting applications running within containers in production; let’s take a deeper dive into what differentiates this technology from what you are used to with virtual machines. Containers can both complement virtual machines and also replace them as they promise the ability to scale exponentially higher. They can easily be ported from one physical server to another or to one platform—such as on-premise—to another—such as public cloud providers like Amazon AWS. In this Webcast, we’ll explore “container best practices” that discuss how to address the various challenges around networking, security and logging. We’ll also look at what types of applications more easily lend themselves to a microservice architecture versus which applications may require additional investment to refactor/re-architect to take advantage of microservices.

When the SNIA Ethernet Storage Forum (ESF) last looked at the Ethernet Roadmap for Networked Storage in 2015, we anticipated a world of rapid change. The list of advances in 2016 is nothing short of amazing:

•New adapters, switches, and cables have been launched supporting 25, 50, and 100Gb Ethernet speeds including support from major server vendors and storage startups
•Multiple vendors have added or updated support for RDMA over Ethernet
•The growth of NVMe flash and release of the NVMe over Fabrics standard are driving demand for both faster speeds and lower latency in networking
•The growth of cloud, virtualization, hyper-converged infrastructure, object storage, and containers are all increasing the popularity of Ethernet as a storage fabric

The world of Ethernet in 2017 promises more of the same. Now we revisit the topic with a look ahead at what’s in store for Ethernet in 2017. With all the incredible advances and learning vectors, SNIA ESF is here to help you keep up. Here’s some of the things to keep track of in the upcoming year:
•Learn what is driving the adoption of faster Ethernet speeds and new Ethernet storage models
•Understand the different copper and optical cabling choices available at different speeds and distances
•Debate how other connectivity options will compete against Ethernet for the new cloud and software-defined storage networks
•And finally look ahead with us at what Ethernet is planning for new connectivity options and faster speeds such as 200 and 400 Gigabit Ethernet

The momentum is strong with Ethernet, and we’re here to help you keep on top of the lightning-fast changes. Come join us to look at the future of Ethernet for storage and join the SNIA ESF webcast on December 1st register here.

The first wave of adoption of container technology was focused on micro services and ephemeral workloads. The next wave of adoption won’t be possible without persistent, shared storage. This webcast will provide an overview of Docker containers and the inherent challenge of persistence when containerizing traditional enterprise applications. We will then examine the different storage solutions available for solving these challenges and provide the pros and cons of each.

In this webcast we will cover
•Overview of Containers
◦Quick history, where we are now
◦Virtual machines vs. Containers
◦How Docker containers work
◦Why containers are compelling for customers
◦Challenges
◦Storage
•Storage Options for Containers
◦NAS vs. SAN
◦Persistent and non-persistent
•Future Considerations
◦Opportunities for future work

This webcast should appeal to those interested in understanding the basics of containers and how it relates to the storage used with containers.

Businesses are extracting value from more data, more sources and at increasingly real-time rates. Spark and HANA are just the beginning. This webcast details existing and emerging solutions for in-memory computing solutions that address this market trend and the disruptions that happen when combining big-data (Petabytes) with in-memory/real-time requirements., It provides an overview and trade-offs of key solutions (Hadoop/Spark, Tachyon, Hana, NoSQL-in-memory, etc) and related infrastructure (DRAM, Nand, 3D-crosspoint, NV-DIMMs, high-speed networking) and discusses the disruption to infrastructure design and operations when "tiered-memory" replaces "tiered storage"

In this part of the series, “Everything You Wanted To Know about Storage But Were Too Proud To Ask,” we’re going to be focusing on the network aspect of storage systems.

As with any technical field, it’s too easy to dive into the jargon of the pieces and expect people to know exactly what you mean. Unfortunately, some of the terms may have alternative meanings in other areas of technology. In this Webcast, we look at some of those terms specifically and discuss them as they relate to storage networking systems.

For people who are familiar with Data Center Technology, whether it be Compute, Programming, or even Storage itself, some of these concepts may seem intuitive and obvious… until you start talking to people who are really into this stuff. This series of Webcasts will help be your Secret Decoder Ring to unlock the mysteries of what is going on when you hear these conversations.

Today's storage world would appear to have been divided into three major and mutually exclusive categories: block, file and object storage. Much of the marketing that shapes much of the user demand would appear to suggest that these are three quite distinct animals, and many systems are sold as exclusively either SAN for block, NAS for file or object. And object is often conflated with cloud, a consumption model that can in reality be block, file or object.

But a fixed taxonomy that divides the storage world this way is very limiting, and can be confusing; for instance, when we talk about cloud. How should providers and users buy and consume their storage? Are there other classifications that might help in providing storage solutions to meet specific or more general application needs?

This webcast will explore clustered storage solutions that not only provide multiple end users access to shared storage over a network, but allow the storage itself to be distributed and managed over multiple discrete storage systems. In this webcast, we’ll discuss:
•General principles and specific clustered and distributed systems and the facilities they provide built on the underlying storage
•Better known file systems like NFS, GPFS and Lustre along with a few of the less well known
•How object based systems like S3 have blurred the lines between them and traditional file based solutions.

This webcast should appeal to those interested in exploring some of the different ways of accessing & managing storage, and how that might affect how storage systems are provisioned and consumed. POSIX and other acronyms may be mentioned, but no rocket science beyond a general understanding of the principles of storage will be assumed. Contains no nuts and is suitable for vegans!

The storage performance benchmarking dynamic duo, Mark Rogov and Ken Cantrell, are back. Having covered storage performance benchmarking fundamentals, system under test and most recently block components, this fourth installment of the Webcast series will focus on File Components.

Register now to learn why the File World is different from the Block World. Mark and Ken will walk through the basic filesystem theory to how filesystem data layout affects performance, covering:

Containers are the latest in what are new and innovative ways of packaging, managing and deploying distributed applications. In this webcast, we’ll introduce the concept of containers; what they are and the advantages they bring illustrated by use cases, why you might want to consider them as an app deployment model, and how they differ from VMs or bare metal deployments.

We’ll follow up with a look at what is required from a storage perspective when using Docker, one of the leading systems that provides a lightweight, open and secure environment for the deployment of containers. Finally, we’ll round out our Docker introduction by presenting the takeaways from DockerCon, an industry event for makers and operators of distributed applications built on Docker, that took place in Seattle in June of this year.

Representatives from a range of established KMIP Key Management server vendors answer questions from the moderators and from the audience on various aspects of encryption, standardized key management via KMIP and some of the deployment issues and opportunities brought about through enterprise key management.

As Cybersecurity shifts from the “best practice” environment to being mandated by regulations and prioritized by the high costs for data breaches, IT groups and data center operators are facing multiple challenges. One of these challenges is how to address the security of a mix of legacy storage devices, unencrypted devices, encrypted devices, new technology storage and eDrives in a single environment. Yet another challenge is how to construct a robust, trusted identity-based authentication (or role-based authentication or as a matter of coming the two) to fend off malware and Trojan infection. A system solution that can simplify the security management of mixed drives with high valued data content will be presented. The solution has at least one smart hardware interface controller that performs all security features internally while offers in-line cryptographic performance without degrading data rate.

Security and Storage covers a diverse range of technologies and approaches that can make it challenging to distill a workable strategy from the mix of architectures, tools, techniques, recommendations, standards and competing vendor solutions. Guidance on how to contrast the various security approaches in storage and evaluate the right mix for your specific problem domain forms the majority of the material covered in this session.

Representatives from a range of established KMIP conformant storage vendors answer questions from the moderators and from the audience on various aspects of encryption, standardized key management via KMIP and some of the deployment issues and opportunities brought about through enterprise key management.

With 20 billion connected devices expected to be in use by 2020, the Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a source of both incredible versatility and incredible susceptibility to mass legal liability. Left crushed behind the rush to “market and monetize” steamroller are coding standards, security (including IoT storage security) standards, and other “future-proofing” or “future-immunizing” measures typically adopted by manufacturers to prevent or minimize the potential for product liability on a mass basis. This keynote will discuss why manufacturers, developers and vendors must gain clear understanding of how IoT devices (and services) impact large segments of the population, and further understand how to mitigate or minimize the inherent susceptibility to defects and exploits to massive legal and financial liability.

Welcome to this first part of the webcast series, where we’re going to take an irreverent, yet still informative look, at the parts of a storage solution in Data Center architectures. We’re going to start with the very basics – The Naming of the Parts. We’ll break down the entire storage picture and identify the places where most of the confusion falls. Join us in this first webcast – Part Chartreuse – where we’ll learn:

•What an initiator is
•What a target is
•What a storage controller is
•What a RAID is, and what a RAID controller is
•What a Volume Manager is
•What a Storage Stack is

With these fundamental parts, we’ll be able to place them into a context so that you can understand how all these pieces fit together to form a Data Center storage environment.

Oh, and why are the parts named after colors, instead of numbered? Because there is no order to these webcasts. Each is a standalone seminar on understanding some of the elements of storage systems that can help you learn about technology without admitting that you were faking it the whole time! If you are looking for a starting point – the absolute beginning place – start with this one. We’ll be using these terms in all the other presentations.

Ethernet technology had been a proven standard for over 30 years and there are many networked storage solutions based on Ethernet. While storage devices are evolving rapidly with new standards and specifications, Ethernet is moving towards higher speeds as well: 10Gbps, 25Gbps, 50Gbps and 100Gbps….making it time to re-introduce Ethernet Networked Storage.

This live Webcast will start by providing a solid foundation on Ethernet networked storage and move to the latest advancements, challenges, use cases and benefits. You’ll hear:

•The evolution of storage devices - spinning media to NVM
•New standards: NVMe and NVMe over Fabric
•A retrospect of traditional networked storage including SAN and NAS
•How new storage devices and new standards would impact Ethernet networked storage
•Ethernet based software-defined storage and the hyper-converged model
•A look ahead at new Ethernet technologies optimized for networked storage in the future

Register today for this live Webcast where our experts will be on hand to answer your questions.

Cloud storage has transformed the storage industry, however interoperability challenges that were overlooked during the initial stages of growth are now emerging as front and center issues. Join this Webcast to learn the major challenges that businesses leveraging services from multiple cloud providers or moving from one cloud provider to another face.
The SNIA Cloud Data Management Interface standard (CDMI) addresses these challenges by offering data interoperability between clouds. SNIA and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have partnered to create a SNIA CDMI Conformance Test Program to help cloud storage providers achieve CDMI conformance.
As interoperability becomes critical, end user companies should include the CDMI standard in their RFPs and demand conformance to CDMI from vendors.
Join us on July 19th to learn:
•Critical challenges that the cloud storage industry is facing
•Issues in a multi-cloud provider environment
•Addressing cloud storage interoperability challenges
•How the CDMI standard works
•Benefits of CDMI conformance testing
•Benefits for end user companies

Object storage is a secure, simple, scalable, and cost-effective means of embracing the explosive growth of unstructured data enterprises generate every day.
Many organizations, like large service providers, have already begun to leverage software-defined object storage to support new application development and DevOps projects. Meanwhile, legacy enterprise companies are in the early stages of exploring the benefits of object storage for their particular business and are searching for how they can use cloud object storage to modernize their IT strategies, store and protect data while dramatically reducing the costs associated with legacy storage sprawl.
This Webcast will highlight the market trends towards the adoption of object storage , the definition and benefits of object storage, and the use cases that are best suited to leverage an underlying object storage infrastructure.
In this webcast you will learn:
•How to accelerate the transition from legacy storage to a cloud object architecture
•Understand the benefits of object storage
•Primary use cases
•How an object storage can enable your private, public or hybrid cloud strategy without compromising security, privacy or data governance

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit global organization, made up of some 400 member companies spanning virtually the entire storage industry. SNIA's mission is to lead the storage industry worldwide in developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information.